For weeks, fans have been agitating for a bunch of Oscar nominations for Spider-Man: No Way Home, the crowd-pleasing Marvel blockbuster that became the highest-grossing movie of 2021 and one of the biggest hits in the history of cinema. Could it get nominated in more categories than the typical Marvel Studios film? How about a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for the impressive way the movie balances multiple franchises and Spider-Man continuities and threads them all together into an extremely satisfying adventure? Or what about Best Picture?

Frankly, that always seemed like an enormous long shot, and sure enough when the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards were announced this morning, Spider-Man: No Way Home was mentioned only once, in the Best Visual Effects category. It’s a category that the Spider-Man movie franchise has history in; Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were both nominated for the award, and Spider-Man 2 actually won. (The last Marvel movie to win an Oscar was Black Panther in 2019, which was nominated for seven awards and won three: Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design.)

No Way Home will face stiff competition in the category this year. It’s up against Free GuyNo Time to Die, fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and the film I would assume is the frontrunner, Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi adaptation of Dune. I enjoyed the heck out of Spider-Man: No Way Home, but if I had an Oscar ballot, I’d pick Dune for Best Visual Effects, no question.

But I don’t have a ballot, and who knows what will happen when the Academy Awards will be announced on Sunday, March 27 on ABC. Spider-Man: No Way Home is still playing in theaters.

Actors Who Turned Down Major Marvel Roles

Not everyone wants to be a part of the Marvel universe. These actors all got offered high-profile gigs in Marvel movies and turned them down.

More From Mix 106